"Harmony, he told me, is only a distant accessory in imitative music;There is in the harmony properly so called any principle of imitation.It ensures, it is true, the intonations;she bear witness to their accuracy;And, making the modulations more sensitive, it adds energy to the expression, and thanks to the song.But it is the only melody that this power invincible for passionate accents;It is from her that drift all the power of music on the soul.Form the most learned succession agreements without a melody mixture, you will be bored after a quarter of an hour.Beautiful songs without any harmony are for a long time to the test of boredom.That the emphasis of feeling animates the simplest songs, they will be interesting.On the contrary, a melody that does not speak still badly, and the only harmony has never known anything to the heart."
Jean-Jacques Rousseau